Frances Ferguson King

Frances Ferguson King, 92, the daughter of D. Niel Ferguson and Frankey H. Ferguson, was gathered to her ancestors on February 22, 2022. A fifth genera-tion Marion Countian, she loved to talk about what she referred to as "old Ocala," meaning the town and townspeople as they were during her formative years and young adulthood. She was appalled at quite a few of the changes made in recent decades, especially the real estate development of many of the horse farms. Although not a gambler, Frances never missed watching the Triple Crown horse races and loved seeing Marion County horses in the competitions. A life-long member of First Baptist Church of Ocala, Frances played the piano at Sunday night services when a teenager and, later, taught Sunday School for eight-year olds for several years. She worked as a legal secretary for her father until his retirement, at which point her volunteering increased. She was a Gray Lady at Monroe Memorial Hospital for 12 years and only retired due to health issues; her proudest accomplishment was serving as Gray Lady Captain for a year. Frances also served on the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross of Marion County and on the board of Hospice of Marion County. She also volunteered as a poll worker during many election cycles. Frances was preceded in death by her broth-er, Niel Ferguson, Jr. as well as her parents. She is survived by her daughter, Annette Ferguson King, of Adelphi, Maryland. A graveside service will be held at Highland Memorial Park at 2:00 on Tuesday, March 1. In lieu of flowers, contri-butions may be made in Frances' memory to the Florida. Baptist Children's Home, P.O. Box 8190, Lakeland, FL 33802.